New anemone dead or hiding?

Dcozine

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I just got a Rose Bubble Tip Anemone (I'm assuming that's what RBTA in posts stands for?) on Friday, and I'm fairly certain tragedy struck, but the evidence doesn't all add up. I'm hoping to hear more about others' experiences and see what "survey says."

I have a relatively new 125 gallon set up, but fully cycled and all inhabitants happy and healthy. 2 clowns have been in there for over a month (also have lawnmower blenny, coral beauty angel, ~15 hermit crabs, and a cleaner shrimp), and I wanted to get them an anemone. I picked up a nice, healthy looking RBTA at a fish shop 90 minutes from where I live, spent an hour+ acclimating it to my water, and put it in the tank (also picked up a blue-green chromis, blue tang, 4 peppermint shrimp, and emerald crab on the trip). It immediately started roving (I was surprised by how quick they move, relatively speaking), but tentacles were out and showed no apparent signs of stress.

About an hour to 90 minutes later, my son checked in on it on his way to brush his teeth and saw it on some rocks down at the end of the tank, which was close to the last place I had seen it. After brushing his teeth, he came back and couldn't see it and came to get me. We started searching together, and couldn't see it anywhere, but we did see about a dozen little, half- to one-centimeter long pink things floating around - presumably deflated tentacles.

I had read about anemones getting sucked into power heads, and knocked mine back to 10% max (I have 1 Vortech MP40D at either side of the tank), assuming that between the lower power and no rocks near the fans, it'd be safe. My working assumption is that the nem must've detached shortly after my son saw it, floated up into the fan, and got obliterated. I've mentally prepared myself for that inevitability; however, I'm holding out some hope due to the following:
1) There was no sign of any other part of the anemone wedged in the fan grill or floating in the tank - no chunks, no cloudiness, nothing.
2) All of the other creatures in the tank show no signs of illness/poisoning; I've read some posts where the toxins in a pureed nem wind up killing off the entire tank.
3) No extra output from my skimmer - I assume the organic material in the water would've caused some extra foam collection.
4) The number of tentacle bits we could see (assuming one bit per tentacle) is nowhere near the number it had, and probably closer to a quarter or less.

So, my alternate theory is that the anemone shed a handful of tentacles that got damaged in the process of moving between tanks, and went into hiding somewhere in a crevice that we can't see. One more tidbit in support of that is that shortly after we put the nem in the tank, my daughter asked if they shed tentacles because she thought she saw something that looked like one, but I never saw what she was talking about at the time.

My questions to the community:
1) Could a large anemone get shredded so completely it essentially dissolves into nothingness in a matter of 5 minutes - no haze, no chunks, no sign of anything but a few bits of tentacle?
2) How regularly DO nems shed tentacles?
3) For those that have had nems wind up in the power head, what has been your experience as far as what was found, how the tank looked, how the fish were impacted, protein skimmer output, etc.?
4) If the nem is in hiding, how long might it stay there? And how much time should I allow to elapse before I give up hope - 1 day, 1 week, 1 month?
5) Any other thoughts or experiences to add?

The photo I posted is a shot of the anemone from the last time I saw it, and about one hour to 90 minutes before it disappeared.

Thanks in advance for any input, advice, etc.!

rbta.jpg
 

DinoMagnet

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What is a relatively new setup? From what I’ve read and been told, is nems need a mature and stable tank. Let’s get the nem king @OrionN
 
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Dcozine

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What is a relatively new setup? From what I’ve read and been told, is nems need a mature and stable tank. Let’s get the nem king @OrionN

Filled with water in late January, 2 clowns added a month ago (Feb. 6) to produce ammonia. Ammonia never went above .25, Nitrite went up to .5 for a day. Ammonia has been at 0 since Feb. 16, Nitrite has been at 0 since Feb. 20. Nitrate has been steady at 5ppm or less.

I know it's not mature, but it's definitely stable. SG and pH haven't budged since I started daily readings on Feb. 1.
 

ca1ore

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I have not heard of an anemone shedding tentacles. How big was the anemone (looks like it might have been quite small from the picture).
 
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Dcozine

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I have not heard of an anemone shedding tentacles. How big was the anemone (looks like it might have been quite small from the picture).
It filled the palm of my hand - I'd guess about a 3 to 4 inch diameter, and probably about the same in height from base to tip of tentacles.
 

Jekyl

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They can shrink down to nothing. Hopefully it will come back out. Usually want a tank 9 months to a year old for nems. I imagine it shrunk into your rocks somewhere.
 

DinoMagnet

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Filled with water in late January, 2 clowns added a month ago (Feb. 6) to produce ammonia. Ammonia never went above .25, Nitrite went up to .5 for a day. Ammonia has been at 0 since Feb. 16, Nitrite has been at 0 since Feb. 20. Nitrate has been steady at 5ppm or less.

I know it's not mature, but it's definitely stable. SG and pH haven't budged since I started daily readings on Feb. 1.
IMO I would lean to the tank being new. I made the mistake of getting a sebae when my tank was 3 months old and it wouldn’t stay nowhere. It finally disappeared into my rockwork which i then dug out and took back to my lfs.
Lfs.
 

kutcha

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the nem is most likely in your rockwork. From the sounds of it your cycled finished less then a month ago, if I were you I would see if you can find the nem and return it to the store and get some hardy fish to progress the maturity of the tank. If not and you want to try with the nem make sure you find it and keep a watch on it because they have been known to melt away to nothing hiding in rock and that will mess with your other tank inhabitants.
 
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Dcozine

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the nem is most likely in your rockwork. From the sounds of it your cycled finished less then a month ago, if I were you I would see if you can find the nem and return it to the store and get some hardy fish to progress the maturity of the tank. If not and you want to try with the nem make sure you find it and keep a watch on it because they have been known to melt away to nothing hiding in rock and that will mess with your other tank inhabitants.
I'll see what I can rig up with mirrors to check more nooks and crannies.

Is there a particular aspect of a mature tank that the nems require, or is it just collective experience that they don't thrive in younger tanks? Just curious if there's something I can additionally keep an eye on to help gauge if I dig it out or keep an eye on it.

Also, if I find it and keep an eye on it, will it be obvious if it starts to "melt away"?

Thanks!
 
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Dcozine

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You guys called it - not shredded, just hiding! Today I finally spotted the nem hidden up in cave out of view. It's tentacles are all out and it looks what I'd consider normal, but shy. Over the course of the day it has gotten easier to see, so it's either extending itself more or working its way to the mouth of the cave.

Now that I know where it is, I'll keep an eye on it for signs of distress or deterioration - I'm not sure I could extract it easily without causing damage at this point.
 
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Dcozine

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I've been slipping the anemone a small bit of scallop every two or three days, which it has readily accepted. Last night, for the first time, it crawled out of its cave and settled in the open. I take that as a good sign.
20210325_074543.jpg
20210325_114941.jpg
 

Rmckoy

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You guys called it - not shredded, just hiding! Today I finally spotted the nem hidden up in cave out of view. It's tentacles are all out and it looks what I'd consider normal, but shy. Over the course of the day it has gotten easier to see, so it's either extending itself more or working its way to the mouth of the cave.

Now that I know where it is, I'll keep an eye on it for signs of distress or deterioration - I'm not sure I could extract it easily without causing damage at this point.
They are relatively easy to extract without causing harm .
gently massage their foot where it’s attached to the rock .
or a small power head .
they will release if the flow is not to their liking .
They are amazing creatures for sure.
but moving forward . To assure the possibility of never getting into the power heads . Purchase anemone covers .
 

((FORDTECH))

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I've been slipping the anemone a small bit of scallop every two or three days, which it has readily accepted. Last night, for the first time, it crawled out of its cave and settled in the open. I take that as a good sign.
20210325_074543.jpg
20210325_114941.jpg
For what it’s worth echotech sells foam covers for the mp40 that just slip over very easy and will protect the nem. IMO when adding a new nem to a daily new tank they seem to walk a lot and even float a lot so times so you may want to get these even if you only use for few weeks while nem gets situated and takes a good hold to the rock
 

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